Arab Israeli MP: Our community feels 鈥榯errorised鈥�
Aida Touma-Sliman says life for Arab Israelis is now 鈥榰nbearable鈥�
Arab Israelis 鈥榝eel terrorised鈥� in the wake of Hamas鈥檚 October 7 assault on southern Israel, a Palestinian Arab member of the country鈥檚 parliament, the Knesset, has told the 麻豆社. 鈥楾here was life that is not so easy before October 7 but now it鈥檚 unbearable鈥�, said Aida Touma-Sliman.
Speaking to Stephen Sackur for HARDtalk, the MP for the Hadash party said that since the attack, the approximately 2 million Arab Israelis 鈥� who make up about 20 per cent of the country鈥檚 population - were being treated as though they had 鈥榩otential鈥� to be 鈥榯errorists鈥�. The attack by Hamas (a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK and other countries) killed approximately 1,200 people and Israel鈥檚 subsequent bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 22,000 people according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
鈥楢lthough before that we felt racism, after October 7 we feel really threatened,鈥� Ms Touma-Sliman said. 鈥榃e feel terrorised also on the establishment level from ministers and policies led by the government and from the general public鈥�. Anti-war protests are banned in Israel, and dozens of Arab Israelis have been arrested for social media posts that police claim have shown sympathy towards Hamas or are supportive of terrorism.
Asked about the wave of anger and grief in the wake of the attack, she said: 鈥� I don鈥檛 think anybody anticipated the amount of grief because nobody anticipated also the huge trauma that would be created from the killing鈥rom the fact that there are civilians who became victims of this assault or the kidnapped and hostages who are in Gaza.鈥�
